Houston County's region title loss officially on the back-burner as sectional looms

Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle

The locker room door slammed shut during halftime of Houston County's Region 5-A tournament championship game against East Robertson.

That's the kind of intensity and competitiveness Lady Irish coach Sam Young brings to a program he is starting his second stint with this season.

Yet when he emerged from the locker room after his team's 32-30 loss to the Lady Indians Wednesday night at Mt. Pleasant High School, he was stoic and reserved.

Houston County's Hope Weatherspoon (32) looks for a way around East Robertson's defense during their Region 5-A championship game Wednesday at Mt. Pleasant.

"It's on to the next game," Young said after his team played East Robertson for the fourth time this season. "That's the beauty of high school basketball in Tennessee. You can lose the region championship game but have another game waiting."

That game will be the Class A sectional Saturday at 7 p.m. on the road against Huntingdon. Summertown travels to face East Robertson.

And while Houston County would rather play in Erin for Saturday's sectional, he isn't looking at a long road trip as a negative.

More:After 1 year absence, Sam Young is back in Erin

"There's some positives about it," Young said. "There's fewer distractions, that's for sure. You don't have people calling you up asking what time the game is or where you're going to be. We'll be on the road and we can spend a lot of time in thought preparing ourselves mentally and resting, waiting to play."

Houston County's Alissa Downs goes up for a lay up and is fouled by an East Robertson player during the first half of their Region 5-A tournament championship game Wednesday at Mt. Pleasant.

As if the drive to Mt. Pleasant wasn't long enough, Wednesday's game seemed to drag on. Offense came in small bursts for both teams while much of the game was played on the perimeter by guards who tried to not turn the ball over.

"It was an ugly game," Young said. "We made a few plays but East Robertson made a few more plays than we did."

More:Region basketball tournament schedules

But Young has been in these situations before. He's the architect of eight of Houston County's previous nine years. He won four straight District 10-A regular season championships, three straight tournament titles and captured a Region 5-A crown.

Houston County coach Sam Young talks with his point guard Sydney Brake during the first half of their Region 5-A championship game against East Robertson Wednesday in Mt. Pleasant.

Twice he led the Lady Irish to the Class A state tournament and he guided his program to back-to-back 30-plus win seasons.

He left and coached Creek Wood's girls' team last year before returning to Erin this past summer.

"Losing a region title has happened before and I'm sure it'll happen to me again, but we're moving past it," he said. "I'll allow the girls to feel bad for a day and then we move on. We have to because our ultimate goal is still in sight."

Reach prep writer George Robinson at georgerobinson@theleafchronicle.com or (931) 245-0747 and on Twitter @Cville_Sports.